South African futures were weaker on Friday, despite a strong opening on the Dow, as the JSE all share tracked weaker European markets. Platinum stocks fared worst, followed by banks. The all share closed 0.37% lower at 55,645.20 points and the top 40 was down 0.49%. The platinum index shed 2.78%, banks 1.46%, financials 0.54%, resources 0.39% and industrials 0.33%. The gold index rose 0.79%, general retailers 0.78%, property 0.41% and food and drug retailers 0.33%. The Dow Jones was up 0.16% soon after the JSE’s close. European markets were lower with the FTSE 100 losing 1.12% on the stronger pound, after the Bank of England (BoE) signalled possible future rate hikes, on Thursday. The rand was at R13.1640 from R13.1166. Gold was down 0.60% to $1,322 an ounce and platinum 1.83% to $985.05, while Brent crude gained 0.76% to $55.68 a barrel. The top-40 Alsi futures index was 0.11% lower at 49,399 points. The number of contracts traded was 47,192 from Thursday’s 23,705.
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